What They Don't Know
by Silent Spirit 17
Summary: Letta and Sydney always gave their daughter the best they could, no matter how hard it was. Private school, tons of lessons, summer traveling, and all of their free time away from work went to spending it with their daughter. They were sure they were doing everything right. Until their precious flower shook and shattered their delusion.
1. A Different Struggle

Azalea was an only child, born to parents Letta and Sydney, unplanned, but very much loved. Though she was raised in a small apartment in San Myshuno, her parents worked tirelessly to give her the best they could. To ensure their daughter got a great education and was well-adjusted, her parents sent her to a private, all-girls school from the time she was old enough for kindergarten, and spent extra time they had at home tutoring her. They filled her schedule with various lessons like piano and swimming, and travelled with her every summer to the extent they could afford. To say it was exhausting would be an understatement, but they did it all in the hopes their daughter would grow up to be something great and do better than they could.

So, it was a huge shock when one day, three months shy of her fifteenth birthday, Azalea came home to her parents with an announcement: she was pregnant.

The family had never not struggled - particularly financially - but to Letta and Sydney, this turned their whole world upside-down. It was a scenario they were positive couldn't happen, yet it did. They were sure they knew everything, but this news felt like obvious proof they didn't. They had a huge amount of questions.

And Azalea feared what would happen if she didn't give the answers.


	2. Why Is This Happening?

_Author's Note: Before everyone comes after me with pitchforks and torches with intent to mount my head on their wall, keep in two things in mind. 1) This story is_ fiction _! 2) The protagonist is a teenager! I know no one who would've been happy about learning they're pregnant at 14 (or 15 or 16 or even 20!). Personally, I'm 23 and getting pregnant is still one of my worst nightmares. Yes, I know teenage pregnancy is seen as more of a positive thing today than it was back in 1990 or so, and I've even read anecdotes from people who wanted to get pregnant while in their teens. This story is not meant to be a moral lesson about teenage pregnancy. It's a_ **fictional** _tale based on a video game series written for fun and_ nothing more _._

* * *

The moment the tardy bell rang, the students cleared out. The girls emptied the halls of themselves, creating a nearly instant silence. Their classrooms locked, holding in any amount of chatter that could've escaped their walls. It was quiet.

Except for Azalea.

14 years old and so scared, she hadn't the courage to take a pregnancy test at home. Instead, using a week's worth of lunch money she'd saved, she purchased two from a pharmacy near her school and hid them in her bookbag, intending to take them when she could manage to slip away between classes. Anxiety filled her, but she got her chance right before her study period was to begin.

The tests she bought weren't the kind with plus and minus signs, or blue lines. No, the results would blatantly display "Pregnant" or "Not pregnant". Against every strain of hope she could have, her result for both tests were the first.

Azalea was so crying so hard, her tears were soiling her uniform's skirt, not that she cared. She quietly begged every entity she could to not let this be true. She could only imagine the rumors. How could a teenage girl who attended an all-girls school be pregnant? What would her friends think? Her teachers? Her _parent_ s? Azalea almost felt herself retch about the last thought.

But her most fearful thoughts were of herself. What would she do? What _could_ she do? Her very first thought was an abortion, but the idea exited her mind as quickly as it entered. She couldn't have an abortion. Well, she couldn't have a professional abortion. She'd need one of her parents to consent. Even if she didn't, she had no clue how to go about making appointments for herself.

With one option no longer an option, her mind swung to adoption. But like abortion, she'd need one of her parents to consent, and she was certain they'd refuse. She knew they adored babies. She could, in secret, take the infant to a different hospital and abandon the child there, but her parents would never forgive her if she did.

Thus, Azalea had no options. She had to continue this pregnancy. She had to give birth. She had to keep that child. And the more that brutal reality set in, the harder she cried.

Three class periods passed before Azalea became calm, though not because she wanted to stop. Her throat ached and her voice was hoarse. She also heard knocking and a voice on the other side of the stall's door.

"Azalea, are you in there? Is that you?"

"Y-yes, S-selene," Azalea softly replied in pain.

"You know the teachers have security searching for you, right?"

Azalea didn't care. She had a very brief hope they'd arrest her and take her somewhere, so she wouldn't have to go home.

"Will you open the door?" Selene asked, clearly annoyed for a reason Azalea didn't know, but again, didn't care about.

"Will you bug off?!" Azalea finally shouted, though even her shout barely rose above a whisper's volume.

"Fine. The dust mites can infest you. I'll tell the guards you want to be alone." Selene walked off, and despite not seeing her, Azalea could hear that snooty walk. With Selene gone, Azalea's mind immediately shot back to her own predicament.

"My life is over."


	3. Disappointment of the Family

"What? WHAT? This had better be some kind of bad joke, young lady!" Letta screamed.

Azalea felt like she didn't dare breathe, lest she set her mother off again.

"Letta, why are you screaming?" Sydney asked, rushing from their bedroom. He immediately noticed their daughter looked petrified. "Azalea, why are you still in your school uniform? You usually change right away when you get home."

"Tell your father! Now!" Letta barked at Azalea.

"Letta, calm down. Whatever it is can't be worth all this yelling."

Azalea was sure she could feel her blood run cold. She felt frozen. She couldn't get another word out of her throat. She inched her toes, but even her feet felt stuck in place, as if her body itself was telling her, "Don't you dare run."

Impatient, Letta finally spoke for her. "She's pregnant."

"No, she's not," Syndey argued. "She can't be. That's why we kept her in an all-girls school in the first place."

"That's why I told her it better be a bad joke! But she keeps saying she is."

Sydney sighed and put his hands to face in shame. Azalea felt her body's freeze finally melt, but sadness replaced the fear that'd previously been consuming her, and she immediately felt the urge to break down.

"Azalea," her father said very firmly, "are you pregnant?"

"...Yes."

"Azalea, that's not funny-"

"I'm pregnant! I'm not joking! I'm pregnant!"

Before Letta could lose her temper again, Sydney sent Azalea off to her room, telling her they'd be there in a while to talk about this. Azalea left, only muttering "Yes, Dad" as she went off to her room. She crawled under her bed cover and finally let the flood gates open.

Azalea's parents felt like they were at a loss. But more than that, for the first time, they weren't sure they knew their daughter as well as they thought. No matter how many times they ran over it in their minds, they couldn't think of any hints they'd missed.

"How, Sydney? How could this happen?" Letta moaned, her temper cooled with Azalea gone. "We've always done the best for her, haven't we? She goes to a great school, there are no boys, she always has A's, she plays violin, runs track, has swim class, everything she could ever need. We even bought her that $900 dress for her middle school graduation dance she wanted so badly. What have we not done for her?!"

"She's the only one with that answer," Syndey replied. "I'm not any happier than you are, but we won't get it out of her by yelling at her."

"Our teenage daughter is pregnant and you expect me to be calm?!"

"No, but do you really think she'll tell us anything with you screaming at her?!" Syndey yelled back, losing patience with his wife.

Letta took a deep breath and finally agreed. "Okay, okay, you're right, but she gets one chance to answer everything."

Letta and Syndey took a few more minutes to settle themselves down before going to Azalea's room. Before they spoke to her, they peeked inside to see she was reading. The moment she spotted them in her doorway, she closed her book and slowly placed it at her side. It was clear to her parents she'd been crying not so long ago.

Her parents entered her room and she tensed up almost instantly, almost certain she wasn't going to be alive for much longer. "Well, it was nice knowing me," she thought.

Sydney spoke first. "Look, Azalea, all we need you to do for us and be honest and tell us everything. And we'll go from there."

Azalea nodded, unsure of what that meant, but certain it wasn't the best time for her to be asking questions.

"First, just tell us how this happened," Sydney said. "How'd you meet the boy who did this? There are only girls at your school, so we need to know. We sent you to that kind of school to keep you out of trouble, so what happened?"

"I like it at my school. I like being with only girls," Azalea said.

"Then, why are you pregnant?" Letta demanded, though her husband's nudge made her shut up.

"Well... when we go to meets, the sports teams are co-ed because we're competing," Azalea confessed. "Since there are other teams, there are lots of boys."

Azalea didn't have to say any more for her parents to put the pieces together. "And why did you never tell us you started seeing one of these boys?" Letta asked, barely keeping her temper cool.

"I... I thought you'd take me off the track team if I confessed."

"You're damn right we would've!" Letta yelled. "We came to all your meets to support you on your team, not to hear you fooling around!"

"Letta, enough!" Syndey ordered. "Azalea, when did you even have time for this?"

"Breaks before and after the runs," Azalea admitted. "And one day, we snuck into one of the buses before it was time to go home. We... we just wanted to have a bit of fun."

"So, track and your other activities aren't fun?" Syndey asked.

"Yes! I mean... I didn't know what we were doing!"

"Then, why'd you do it?" Letta demanded. "If you had any common sense, you wouldn't do something if you didn't know what you were doing!"

Azalea started to cry all over again. "I don't know! It felt good! It was fun! I just did it! I wasn't worrying about getting pregnant!"

Azalea's crying made Letta lose it. "It's too late to be crying now! You should've thought of that before you did foolish nonsense like this! We have always done our best for you! What haven't we done for you that makes you do something so stupid like this?!"

"Letta, stop!" Sydney shouted, trying to pull her back down, but Letta wouldn't hear him out.

"Nothing! I was just... I was stupid, okay?! I'm not smart! I shouldn't have done it! What else do you want me to say, Mom?! I'm pregnant! I don't know what else to say!"

"We sent you to that school to get a good education and this is what you do with yourself?!" Letta continued shouting. "Do you have any idea of what you're going to do from now? If you don't, you'd better start thinking right now! What the hell is wrong with you?! You're not stupid! You wouldn't be at your school if you were! Why are you doing stupid things and acting like it?! ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!"

Azalea could only continue wailing as her mother went on with her tirade. Her throat was beginning to ache.

"I SWEAR, IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW, AZALEA...!" Letta took hold of their daughter's hair and yanked it. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY TO YOU?!

"MOMMY, PLEASE! I'M SORRY!" Azalea begged. "I LOVE YOU!" It was all she could think of to say.

"Letta, what are you doing?!" Syndey screamed, freeing their daughter's hair from his wife's grasp. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"I want to know if our daughter has lost hers!"

"Letta, leave! Let me talk to her! Just go!"

Letta boiled her fists, but relented and left Azalea's room without a sound. She inconspicuously stayed nearby to eavesdrop, however.


	4. Three Choices

Sydney didn't know what to make of what just occurred. So quickly, the family had started to tear. But right now, he had to focus on their daughter. Letta would have to be handled later.

Azalea started choking from crying so hard. Sydney patted her back and let her wail into his chest until she could begin to settle down. Her bawling went on for a long time, but she regained her voice.

"I'm sorry I let you and Mom down, Daddy! Please! I still want to be your daughter! I'll do anything! PLEASE DON'T GET RID OF ME!

Sydney's heart crumbled. "No more yelling. Cry all you want, but no more yelling. There's too much yelling going on."

Azalea began to have a panic attack. Sydney held her tightly as her body shook uncontrollably and she clung to his shirt. It went on for two minutes before she briefly lost consciousness to it. She woke only a minute later, fully calm, albeit slightly dazed.

"Dad?" she mumbled.

"You have to relax," Sydney whispered. "You need to relax so we can talk this out."

Relaxing was the last thing possible right now. Guilt had taken her over, but Azalea was out of energy to cry any more. She knew her pregnancy wouldn't be music to her parents' ears, but she didn't imagine she'd break her family. All of this because she fell for a boy. It was brief, but in that moment, she decided she hated boys. Except her dad, of course.

Sydney assumed her quiet meant she was listening, so he took the chance.

"Azalea, first and foremost, your mother and I love you. You're our daughter forever. Your mother needs some time to herself to cool down. We won't kick you out."

Azalea wasn't sure how much of that she believed, but she gave no response.

"She didn't say it in the best way," Sydney sighed, "but she's right that we expected better of you. We expected you to know better."

Azalea couldn't look at him anymore when he said that. The disappointment was no surprise. She simply couldn't handle hearing it. When it came from people like her teachers, she could let it roll off her back, but coming from her parents made it a cut deeper than that of a knife.

"But if you're pregnant, well, you're pregnant. So, you need to tell me what you plan to do."

Azalea stayed quiet.

"Azalea, that wasn't optional to respond to."

"I don't know."

"I figured that. Do you know how far along you are?"

"No."

"Then, the first thing we need to do is get you seen by the doctor," Sydney told her.

"Dad... do I... have to keep it?"

"No." Azalea's eyes grew wide. "You know how your mother and I feel about abortion. But you're the one who'll be going through this, so it's not fair for us to say you have to."

"You'd... let me..."

"We're certainly not going to be happy about it, but there's no decision you can make where we would be," Sydney clarified for her. "We'd be happiest if you hadn't become pregnant in the first place, but that's out of the question now."

"I'm... I'm sorry I screwed up."

"Just know whatever you choose is permanent. You can't go changing your mind once it's done, so be sure it's what you want."

"I really don't know. What's going to happen if I adopt it out? Or keep it?"

"Neither your mother or I know about adoption, so you'd have to figure that one out yourself."

"And the last option?" Azalea asked.

"Your life as a teenager is over. It's going to be school, work, and raising your child. You have to learn to fully support yourself much earlier. Your life is going to be about your child and nothing more."

"I... Can I be alone and think now?"

Sydney let her go and stood up. Before leaving her, he tried to assure her whatever choice she made, he and her mother would make peace with it.


	5. Goodbye, Mom and Dad

After closing the door to Azalea's room, Letta immediately confronted Sydney, but he spoke before she did.

"If you ever hurt our daughter again, I'm divorcing you! Never mind has Azalea lost her mind. What could possess you to think abusing her is okay?"

"I didn't abuse her. Don't be dramatic," Letta sneered.

"Letta, I am not going to argue with you," he told her, though he was clearly losing his patience again. "She doesn't need this and neither do I. You overreacted."

"I don't understand how you're so calm. That's what I want to know."

"I'm furious with her too, but yelling at her and yanking her hair won't reverse it."

"Speaking of reversing, why the hell did you tell her it was alright to have an abortion?" Letta snapped. "You're going to let her be more irresponsible?!"

"You don't need to be giving that lecture right now!" Sydney snapped.

"Excuse me?!"

"You lost your temper, abused our daughter, and pushed her into a breakdown!" Sydney's own temper was very close to boiling over. "Maybe she got her lack of self-control from you!"

Sydney walked away before Letta could say any more, and Letta wisely chose to end it there for now. She was still fuming, but even she had a cap on her explosive temper. Syndey took to immersing himself in a project he needed to finish for work while Letta threw herself down on their bed.

The solitude served to calm Letta down, though it silenced the anger rather than removing it. Alone with her thoughts, Letta couldn't boil over, but the tension remained strong. She replayed the situation several over in her mind. She couldn't accept it was real. The story Azalea gave didn't feel like Azalea's. She still wanted Azalea to be joking. A terrible joke was better than the reality.

Several tense, quiet hours passed before Letta finally concluded she had to speak with Azalea. She wasn't sure how much she meant of what she said, but she had to admit to herself Syndey was right. She shouldn't have reacted as strongly as she did. It was hard. Of course, being a parent was hard in itself, but she still loved Azalea. It was hard to feel that love right now, but she did.

Letta dragged herself out of bed to check on Azalea. She paused for a moment to watch her husband as he slept on the couch. She regretted how she treated him too. She'd make amends with him later, but she wanted to get things over with Azalea first.

Azalea's bedroom door was locked, something she wasn't allowed to do, but Letta didn't mind it for now.

"Azalea, unlock the door," Letta ordered as she knocked.

There wasn't a reply.

"Azalea, open this door now!"

Silence from the other side.

"Azalea, you know you are not allowed to lock this door!" Letta bellowed. "Open this door right now!"

No answer came, and Letta's useless fumbling with the lock wasn't achieving what she wanted either. Letta almost banged on the door, but didn't when she noticed she was stepping on something sticking out from beneath. It was an envelope sealed with a flower sticker. Curious and again angry, Letta hastily ripped the envelope open for the letter inside. "Probably for her so-called boyfriend," Letta quietly sneered.

However, when she read the letter, her heart sank. It was indeed from Azalea, but addressed to her and Sydney.

 _Mom and Dad,_

 _I'm sorry. That's all I know how to say. I'm sorry for letting you down, for not being what you were hoping. I'm sorry for disappointing you. I'm sorry I hid Ren from you. I'm sorry for anything I haven't said sorry for yet. I'm so sorry._

 _I know you've given me everything. I am grateful. I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I don't know what I want. I did this. I think you'd be better off without me._

 _I know it doesn't matter how I feel, but I'm not mad. I'm sure you wish you had a better daughter right now. But I'll always think you're my parents._ _I still love you. And I'm sorry. That I broke us. That I broke everything._

 _Azalea_

Just like that, every ounce of rage Letta felt beforehand was replaced with devastation and guilt. Her face was soaked with tears. This was her fault and there was no denying it. Suddenly, all that occurred after Azalea came home from school rapidly sped through her mind and she fell on her knees to sob.

"What have I done?" she whispered to herself as she sobbed. "What have I done?"


	6. Nightmares

Azalea wandered through the spice market district, not that she had much to wander through since she'd never gone past the fence posts on her own free will. She chose to take refuge beneath one of the picnic tables used for the festivals, if only for that it was the closest thing to a roof over head.

All the stress she'd felt and crying she'd done had wiped her out, and she surprisingly found herself struggling not to fall asleep on the hard ground. Yet, she fought against her body's need for rest to think for a while longer.

Azalea didn't have only one option anymore, but she was unsure she was strong enough for any of them. Could she really endure an abortion? Could she endure the pregnancy and childbirth? Would she have the heart to give away the baby? Could she give away her life for 18+ years? The thought of any of them made her stomach churn and twist. She remembered what her father said. Nothing she chose would really please her parents, and that somehow hurt more than the physical pain.

Azalea didn't feel she had much time to decide. The renewed frustration was great enough to almost push her to vomit. Fortunately, that was when her body's need for sleep finally won and she fell out, lying seemingly lifeless beneath the table as it shielded her from the rainfall that'd begun.

* * *

 _Azalea felt herself breathing heavily. Where was she? She couldn't piece together what was going on. A sharp pain began shooting through her lower half, and she let out a light scream. What was she doing?_

 _Her question was answered when she tiredly fell backward and heard an infant's crying. Her baby? Azalea looked all around, but she could see nothing around her. The crying grew louder until its intensity became tortuous to Azalea's ears. She wanted to scream for help, but her voice had been silenced. She couldn't move. She was stuck... with that wailing... and it wouldn't stop._

 _"No... No! I don't want this! NO! I can't take this! Nooooo!"_

Azalea jolted awake in shock, slightly disoriented. A few seconds of observation calmed her as she realized it'd been nothing more than a nightmare. Her stomach was sore and, oddly, she felt feverish, but she chalked it up to her pregnancy and sleeping in the cold rain.

Unable to return to sleep, Azalea's attention was caught by the sound of a basketball dribbling. It wasn't an unfamiliar sound at this hour, but it was distracting nonetheless. Azalea crawled from beneath the table and walked to the court to see who could possibly be shooting hoops in the rain.

Her jaw dropped when she could clearly see the player.

"Ren?!"


	7. You're On Your Own

Ren dropped his ball when he heard her call his name. "Leah! Hi, baby!" However, when he ran to kiss her, she backed away. "What's wrong? Too wet? Why are you still in your school uniform? And why are you out here?"

"I was going to ask you that," she replied in a deadpan tone.

"Playing some ball to blow off steam and junk," he explained and shrugged. "What's with the tone? You mad at me?"

Azalea sighed. "No. It's my fault too."

"Uh, what's your fault? You failed a test?"

Azalea hesitated for a moment, understandably fearful of being truthful. If he reacted the way she feared... Really, she wouldn't blame him if he did. At the same time, she wasn't sure she could withstand another bad reaction, no matter how much she expected it.

Before she could get any words from her mouth, she felt what seemed like her throat closing up. Suddenly, she couldn't utter a sound. She tried to push the words out, but she could only bite her lip and begin to tremble.

"Leah?! What's wrong?! What are you doing?!" Ren grabbed her, frantic now. "Hey, stop that! What is it?!" Not knowing what else to do, he tightly held her close to himself and, out of nowhere, Azalea found the energy to break into hysterics all over again. Being hysterical hurt, but she could not make herself stop until she exhausted herself again. Not knowing what else to do, Ren awkwardly tried to soothe her with words while he kept holding her.

After what seemed to be too long a period of time, Azalea began to settle down once again. The downpour had reduced to a drizzle, so Ren dragged Azalea to sit on the nearby bench, putting out of his mind how wet it was. He said nothing until Azalea fully stopped crying, but didn't let go of her.

This time, Azalea did vomit after her hysterical episode, and felt dizzy. Ren helped her back to the bench and let her lean on him.

"What was all that? You never did that before."

"Yeah... Haven't felt well."

"I'll take you to the hospital," Ren offered.

"I'm pregnant," Azalea blurted out.

"What...?" Ren muttered.

Azalea's eyes were still tearful, but Ren stopped her. "Please don't cry anymore. It's weird to see you cry."

"I'm pregnant!" Azalea repeated, raising her voice.

"Don't yell!" Ren told her. "By who? You said only girls are at your school. How the hell do you get pregnant at an all-girls school?"

"When you run track..." she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that! Wait, what are you saying? I got you pregnant?"

"Like you said. Only girls," Azalea told him.

"No way!" Ren quickly said. "You're, like, 15! You're not pregnant, and it wasn't me!"

"14, and it was," Azalea said softly, though her anger was building to replace the sadness.

"No way! I don't know who else you hooked up with, but you'd better go find him!" He pushed her off of him, but that action instantly became her boiling point and she shoved him with enough force to knock him off the bench.

"It's yours!" she screamed. "You got me pregnant! You are the only person I ever fooled around with! You did this! And now, my parents don't want me anymore! I don't have a home anymore! I can't go to school! I'd have to go a public co-ed school with stupid boys like you! Stupid boys my parents put me in an all-girls school to keep me away from! I hate you! I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, but damn it, it is yours, you damn asshole!"

Almost as soon as she ceased yelling, Azalea was sure she'd faint. Ren shut up, rendered speechless by her rant. Azalea began to return to the picnic table she'd took shelter under, only to be stalled by Ren when he asked her a question that re-fueled her anger: "Are you going to kill it?"

"You are not telling me what I can't do!" she barked back. "You don't want it! I don't know what I'll do, but if I choose to abort, you're the last person who'll have any say!"

Ren instantly stood up and tried to pull her back, but her rage let her yank herself away.

"You can't do that!"

"Yes! I! Can! It's not your decision!" Azalea's mind was still undecided, but she was almost angry enough to decide on abortion out of anger. Almost, until logic kicked in to remind her rash decisions were how she got in this situation. "Your decision is leaving me! Don't you tell me what I can't do!"

Azalea finally walked away from him, and he had the good sense not to follow her.


	8. It's Too Late

_I'm holding on a rope; got me ten feet off the ground_

Sydney and Letta searched desperately for their daughter, asking every person they passed if they'd seen a young schoolgirl in her uniform, which, unfortunately, wasn't exactly very specific.

 _And I'm hearing what you say, but I just can't make a sound_

Somehow, Azalea had made her way to the arts quarter. Instead of a picnic table, she took shelter beneath one of the many unusued bus stops the city opted to build, despite lack of any bus service. Cold and soaking wet from the restarted downpour, she tried again to do the only thing she could right now: sleep.

 _You tell me that you need me; then, you go and cut me down_

"Letta, we have to keep looking!" Sydney urged her impatiently. "Why are you pausing?"

"Don't snap at me!" Letta retorted. "I'm hurrying!"

"It's your fault she's out here!" Sydney harshly reminded her. "Keep moving!"

"You don't think I know that?!" Letta bellowed. "You don't think I'm worried about her?! I never thought she'd run away from home! You don't think I feel like someone is twisting my insides when I just think of what could happen to her?!"

 _But wait! Tell me that you're sorry; didn't think I'd turn around... and say..._

"That would've been a great thing to say at the house!" Sydney argued. "You wait until our daughter is missing to have that epiphany?!"

 _That it's too late to apologize; it's too late_

A cramp in her stomach reminded Azalea she hadn't eaten. She couldn't decide whether the metal bench or the wet, rock ground was more uncomfortable. She had no idea what time it was or how long she'd been away. She held her eyes tightly shut and as her exhaustion began to overpower her hunger, she slowly remembered.

She remembered her parents would always tutor her and help her study after dinner and once again before bed.

She remembered they would review with her before taking her to school.

She remembered on weekends, they would help her practice her instruments, the piano and the violin. They would take her to the park for training jogs for her track meets. They'd take her to the pool to practice for her swimming classes. They would still help her study after breakfast, after dinner, and before bed.

She remembered their many summer trips to places like Windenburg and Granite Falls. Even abroad, they helped her stay ahead of the game by keeping her on track with her studies and hobbies. Though she hated having to keep up with it all, she loved getting out of their small San Myshuno apartment.

And while they tried to keep it secret, Azalea knew how hard her parents worked to afford to give her that rich childhood. When she thought hard about it, she realized she never had any unstructured time. Her free time always felt like work because she'd practice one of her various hobbies, but knowing how hard her parents worked, something she caught on to from an early age, would often guilt her complaints into silence.

Her toddler memories were vague, but she could still recall that even during those years, her parents were always on top of her learning. They essentially homeschooled her from the time she popped out of her cradle until she could attend school traditionally.

 _I said it's too late to apologize; it's too late_

With no hint of Azalea's whereabouts, Letta and Sydney finally resorted to having her filed as a runaway at the local police station.

"Is this the most accurate picture of her?" the officer asked after taking their information of her.

"It's not the most recent, but she looks exactly the same," Syndey said. "She's in her school uniform. She wears it five days a week and it's what she wore when she left."

"After 24 hours, we'll consider a her missing person if she's not found," the officer stated. "I must warn you it'll likely be difficult to track her down if she's in a school uniform. She'll undoubtedly mix with other students. We've had a few cases of kids sneaking into other schools by attaining the matching uniform and thus, avoiding suspicion."

"She won't be arrested, will she?" Sydney asked, almost pleading.

"Only if she becomes aggressive," the officer replied. "If she has no history of delinquency, the officers who find her will likely talk with her and try to persuade her to return. They won't arrest her if she refuses. They'll counsel her."

Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Officer."

"You're welcome."

 _Take another chance, take a fall, take a shot for you_

Now. Now, Azalea finally appreciated the life her parents gave her. In one moment of fun, she gave it up. She would never again have that life. She knew it. And she accepted it.

For the final time that night, tears poured down her cheeks. She fell asleep.

 _I need you like a heart needs a beat, but it's nothing new (yeah, yeah)_

With nothing else they could do besides hope, Letta and Sydney returned home. It was now ten o'clock. Azalea would've been asleep, safely tucked into her bed. Their home almost felt eerie without their daughter's presence.

They decided to call it a night and went to bed, but they slept apart. Sydney slept on the couch while Letta chose the bed. While Sydney managed to fall asleep almost right away, Letta remained awake for a while longer, haunted by her thoughts.

 _I loved you with a fire red; now, it's turning blue... and you say..._

"If you come back," Letta whispered to herself, "if you come back, I will never hurt you again. Wherever you are, be safe."

 _Sorry like the angel heaven let me think was you; but I'm afraid_

 _It's too late to apologize_

 _It's too late_

 _I said it's too late to apologize_

 _It's too late_

 _I'm holding on a rope_

 _Got me ten feet off... the ground_


	9. Come Home, Azalea

The downpour finally stopped in the early hours of the morning. Azalea awoke to the sound of a siren. Slowly, she sat up. Her whole body ached, her hair was a tangled disgrace, and her uniform was dirty and soaked. Sleeping on a bench would do that you.

"Good morning."

She looked ahead to see a police officer standing in front of her merely a few feet away.

"You wouldn't be Azalea, would you?"

She only nodded.

"May I speak with you for a while?"

"O-Okay," Azalea mumbled. Being greeted by a police officer was not a good start to her morning, but compared to yesterday, being arrested didn't seem awful in comparison. Not worse than her mom anyway.

"A couple came to our precinct last night to report their daughter missing. They gave us pictures of you in your uniform. Not very helpful with a thousand other students in the same outfit. I took a guess when I saw you sleeping here. Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Anxious, Azalea shook her head.

"It's okay. I'm not here to arrest you. I want to talk with you and know what's going on, so I can get you back to your parents."

Azalea shook and clutched her knees. "They... They don't want me."

"As an officer, I can tell you some people do file a missing person report for less than benign reasons. If anything is happening, you can tell me and we'll go from there."

"N-Nothing like that. I just... I screwed up really bad?"

"Screwed up, hmm?" the officer said. "So, which is it? Pregnant, drugs, gay-"

"Gay?" Azalea asked.

The officer maintained her straight, but her soft expression. "You'd be surprised. My fellow officers and I have helped a lot of teenagers who were kicked for being gay. For some parents, it's worse than their kids ending up in jail."

"Oh... Umm, it's nothing like that. I... uh... Well, I go to an all-girls school and-"

"Pregnant," the officer concluded.

"Right. How'd you know?"

"Let's just say it's not the first time I've heard of it. So, parents exploded, and kicked you out or you ran away. Though, if you're a runaway, you're the first I've known to not go back home."

"My parents..." Azalea hesitated. "My parents... They always worked so hard. They gave me everything. Had a ton of lessons, spent all of their time out of work helping me study, traveled."

"Didn't have a lot of free time and never learned to be independent..."

"Y-Yeah..."

The officer smiled warmly and chuckled for a moment. "Sounds like my parents. They meant well, but they were rigorous. My siblings and I lost our minds when we went to college and finally had freedom."

"So, you don't think I'm a... umm..."

"Slut?" the officer guessed.

"Yeah."

"Of course not. You finally got some freedom and you went a bit crazy. Could be worse. You could've gone drunk driving and killed someone. Why don't we get you back home now?"

"My mom," Azalea said. "She... She got really angry. She was screaming at the top of her lungs. My dad had to keep her away from me. I ruined my life. I ruined my family." Azalea leaned over and looked toward the ground as she felt tears well up. "I can't go home. I don't know if I'll abort or adopt out or keep this baby, but I can't go home. I just can't."

Azalea wiped her eyes, not wanting to cry anymore. She was surprised when she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder, and she lifted her head to see herself face-to-face with the officer, whose friendly demeanor hadn't changed.

"If your mom has severely hurt you, I will take you to the hospital to be examined. Otherwise, we can go to the precinct, call your parents, and settle things there. But I'll tell you what I say to every pregnant teen I've helped: you're not responsible for your parents."

"What do you mean?" Azalea asked.

"No parent will be happy to hear their teenager will have a child," the officer told her, "but how they react is on them, not you. Your mom's reaction is entirely on her."

Somehow, that lifted a little weight from Azalea's shoulders. She agreed to go with the officer, whose named she now learned was Skye, despite the butterflies in her belly about facing her parents again. Officer Skye helped her into the police car, and they were soon on their way to the precinct. Azalea went over her options again and again in her head. It was such a big decision to her, and she felt like she couldn't choose. Was this what it was like to be free to make your own choices? She always yearned for it, but she couldn't make a decision for herself now that she had to.

She could have an abortion and her life would go back to normal, though her parents would probably become stricter and she want to be pregnant again, as crazy as that sounded. She could do adoption, but she could want the baby back years later, or she could be tracked down when the baby grew up. She could keep the baby, but she could regret becoming a mother and having to sacrifice her "growing years". No matter how much she thought about it, it wasn't a simple choice. At the very least, Azalea recognized that: bringing a person into the world was a huge deal. She had to put all of her thought into this. What was right? Could they all be right? Could they all be wrong?

The ride to the precinct seemed too short, and more surprising was being greeted by her parents when she stepped out of the car. Officer Skye had spoken to her co-worker at the precinct along the way, and that officer called Azalea's parents. They arrived only minutes before Azalea did. For what felt like an eternity, neither Azalea nor her parents moved or spoke. The tension was so thick, it could choke a person if it were air pollution. Each of them wanted to make a move, but no one dared.

Azalea was the first to break. She grabbed tightly at her sides and let her hair hide her face. She shook. But before any tears could fall, she found herself in her father's embrace. Sydney held his daughter close, fighting back his own tears, and they were soon joined by Letta, who hugged Azalea from behind.

I-I-I'm sorry..." Azalea muttered. She stopped shaking, only because her father held her so tightly.

"Shhhh," Sydney whispered. "Let's go home."

Azalea slowly lifted her head from her father's shoulder, and turned to look her mother in the face. That scared, sorrowful expression utterly broke Letta's heart. She boiled a fist, but quickly released it.

"Azalea, I... I'm sorry." Azalea turned her body around, and Letta pulled her into another embrace, holding Azalea like the teenager could vanish into thin air. "Sweetie, please don't run away again. I'm sorry for everything I did at home. You can always come home. I love you."

Some of Azalea's tears dampened her mother's shirt. "I love you too, Mom."

The missing person report was removed from file, and the family finally went home together. The trip was silent, and no one was certain that was good or bad. There was going to be a lot to talk about at home, and Azalea still didn't feel ready. She wasn't certain about anything.

For the first time in her life, she wished she was at school.


End file.
